Broken
by Pressing Point
Summary: She didn't know why she had wandered to him for shelter nor why she had expected him to help her out of the goodness of his heart. He was Sasuke Uchiha. She was Hinata Hyuuga. But somehow, she let her guard down and allowed him to fix her, only to have him break her once more. Post-war sasuhina.


**Chapter 1**

It's raining, she's running and her father's words are attacking her mind.

"_Hinata, your sister is the heir. You've made significant improvement. Your skills greatly surpass those of Hanabi's and I am proud of you for that. But you still can't be the Head of our clan."_

At the scuffle of feet, she pivoted and ran the other way. They were still looking for her, chasing her and hunting her down like a pack of wolves.

"_W-Why?"_

She skidded into an alleyway and pressed her body against the wall, quietly gasping for breath and recollecting her energy. If she was going to figure out a plan, she was going to need as much strength as possible.

"_You're too fragile. You are soft, kind and light-hearted like your mother. You've said it yourself, you dislike violence. You'd rather live without it. However, this is not a dream. In order to rule this clan, you must wake up. Not everything can be solved with reasoning and kind words. That's where you slack and Hanabi reigns"_

Two of her pursuers darted by her, their byakugans blazing. Luckily, she had figured a way around the byakugan's abilities. As long as she stayed low and hidden, shrouded within her genjutsu, she'd be safe and they'd give up chase.

"_But I will reconsider this if you find a strong man suitable to marry. That way you will be able to fight for your position as heir. I have proposed a list of suitable bachelors."_

She cringed as she remembered the daunting list being placed in her hands. All rich, stuck up Feudal Lord sons and even boys she knew. Naruto, Sasuke, Gaara, Neji. The list appalled her to no greater end.

"_No," she whispered. _

"_What?"_

_She balled her fists and looked her father dead in the eye. "I will not."_

_Hiashi stiffened. _

"_I refuse to marry any of these men!" she screamed. She was livid, furious that he would even propose such a thing. "They're all prideful puppets! And my friends, my comrades? Did you know that many are happily in relationships with other women? Do you think I'd __sink__ that low? I definitely won't!"_

She remembered her fist waving frantically and her eyes looking crazed as she stepped closer and closer towards her father.

"_I may be a woman who believes conflict is never the only option! I may be a woman who believes in peace above all! I may be a kind, light-hearted woman but so what?! I am more than qualified to run this damned clan! I trained for this! I went through hell for this title not so you could just throw me aside like trash! I am a human being! Your daughter! If for any second you think you can sell me to any one of these men just so you can keep your sick vision of heartless bastards continuing to run this clan, you are horribly mistaken! The nerve of you to even propose such a thing! You want to strip me of my birthright, __force__ it onto my younger sister and turn her into a cold, brainwashed puppet! Do you think I'm unable to see through your crap?!_

"_You think it's right but it's not! What exactly have you done right besides bring misery to our family?! When mother dies, you abandon us for a year then come back as a block of ice, tearing us apart and picking favorites! Neji hated me because of you! Do you know how many nights I kept praying for someone to end my life just because you couldn't get your fucking shit together?!"_

"_Hinata-."_

"_Shut up! Now you listen to me father, I do not need to and will not marry! Chain my hands, place shackles on my feet, gag me if you must! I will not do it!"_

And then there was a smack, the smack that she had precisely imprinted on Hiashi Hyuuga's left cheek. After that, she ran and her father sent dozens of Hyuuga guards to bring her back home.

As she stood, pressed against the alley wall, Hinata knew she couldn't go home. If she did, her punishment would be severe. She was sure the entire clan had heard about her little dispute by now and by tomorrow morning, half of Konoha would know it as well.

* * *

Hours passed by and they still hadn't given up on her yet.

It wasn't until Hinata had absent-mindedly fallen asleep and woken up that she heard silence. Lazily, she activated her bloodline limit and scouted the area for any guards. None. The place was empty.

Taking a shaky breath, Hinata forced herself out of her crouching position and walked into the early morning air of Konoha. It was about 2 or 3am and she had nowhere to go. She began to think of her options.

She could always leave the village and start her life as a missing-nin but she knew she would either get caught or stop herself at the main gate due to guilt. She had no other home, no apartment of her own, no money. She ran away without thinking of the problems she might face or the basic necessities she'd need.

Maybe she could stay at one of her friends' houses? She considered Tenten first but immediately decided against it. She was dating Neji and she told him everything. Even if she swore Tenten to secrecy, Neji would find her there anyways and if Neji found her, she'd be going home without a doubt. She considered Ino but Ino loved gossip. If she stayed with Ino, the entire ninja world would know where she was and about her situation. Sakura would let Hinata stay with her but she had moved in with Naruto and Hinata chose to avoid those two together at all costs. Plus they would coach her into going back home just like Kiba, Shino and Kurenai would.

She sighed and shivered as she walked through the lonely streets of Konoha. The rain stopped and the ground was wet. The weather was still chilly.

She had nowhere to go.

She walked about aimlessly, shedding a few tears here and there. She wanted to go home. She wanted to crawl under the warm sheets of her bed. She wanted a warm homemade meal. She wanted her family, no matter how distant they were compared to the regular family.

She kept wandering around, paying little attention to where she was going. It wasn't until she bumped into a wooden post that she became conscious of her surroundings. She had dragged herself to the Uchiha complex, home to only one Uchiha, Sasuke.

She was hopelessly confused as to why she'd drag herself here. There was no way that he'd take her in, even if it was only for the night. There was also no way that she'd even allow herself to be taken in by him. He terrified her and they hardly interacted. When they did interact, it was always a nod of acknowledgment from him when he'd notice her seeing Neji off on a mission since both Neji and Sasuke worked on the same ANBU team.

Hinata's eyes fluttered closed as she leaned against the post she had bumped into. She was feeling drowsy. Yawning, she dropped to her knees and looked inside the complex tiredly. No one dared to walk by the Uchiha's home aside from his two annoying ex-teammates. She'd be safe if she decided to just rest here for an hour. After resting, she'd figure everything out. Nodding in compliance with her reasoning, Hinata rested on the wooden floor and yawned once again. Her eyes fell shut.

* * *

Hinata woke to an assault of blinding light and an aching back. Groggily, she drew her body upwards and as she rubbed her eyes, she wondered if the pain was the result of sleeping on the bare ground. Her vision was still hazy but she could tell something was wrong. The surface she was on wasn't the ground. It was a bed, a bed of white sheets and fluffy pillows.

Subtly, the panic crept in and Hinata began to frantically feel around the soft bed, hoping that it would somehow morph back into the ground she remembered falling asleep on. She refused to believe that she had been captured. She must have been hallucinating, she had to be. Hinata hastily rubbed her eyes again, trying to get her vision to clear faster. When she could see again, she mentally wished she had left herself partially blind.

Staring back at her with emotionless black eyes and an unreadable facial expression was the infamous Uchiha Sasuke. He was sitting on a chair with a plate of sliced tomatoes residing in his lap, using one hand to feed himself the red slices. He continued to apathetically chew as they stared at one another.

It seemed as if he was waiting for her to speak, but she didn't. She was so confused that she lost the ability to do something as simple as run for her life.

Breaking the silence, he asked, "Do you like tomatoes?"

She was too bewildered to answer.

"Hn, that's right," Sasuke murmured. "Neji said you had a sweet tooth."

Hinata stiffened at the mention of her cousin. Sasuke ignored her discomfort and reached underneath the bed for something. He popped back up with a white paper bag in his hands. He placed the bag in her lap, coming dangerously close in order to do so. He then returned to his seat and continued eating his tomatoes. He gestured for her to open the bag.

Gaining some control over her mobility, Hinata placed her hands on the cool bag and warily unrolled the top. Cinnamon rolls.

"Sakura brought some over yesterday," he explained with not a hint of care. "She knows I hate sweets so I left it under my bed." He simply shrugged as she continued to stare at him. "You don't have to eat them if you don't want to. But if you're going to eat, I only have that and tomatoes. Naruto ate all the instant ramen he brought yesterday."

She was about to refuse but her stomach grumbled quietly. She looked down, embarrassed, and missed seeing the hint of amusement in Sasuke's eyes.

Hinata gently took the cinnamon roll in her hand and cautiously bit into it. It wasn't warm like she usually preferred her cinnamon rolls to be, but it still tasted fresh.

The two continued eating their food in silence.

Before Hinata could bite into her second roll, she put it down to ask the question that was eating her alive. "Did… Did you tell anyone I'm here?" she asked as she averted her gaze to the sheets.

"No," Sasuke replied. Hinata met his eyes with relief in her own. "But I _did_ get a message from Neji telling me to keep an eye out for you. Apparently, you've run away or something?"

Hinata bit the inside of her cheek worriedly. Her heart beat erratically. She was scared, so terribly scared. "Please," she whispered, trying not to break down into tears. "Please don't tell anyone where I am. I-I'll just leave now so I won't impose." She got out of the bed and stepped onto the cold floor where she stumbled into his dresser. Apologizing clumsily, Hinata made her way to the door and tried to open it, only for it to be locked. She turned her head in the Uchiha's direction, seeing him stare at her as he continued to eat his freshly sliced tomatoes.

"You trespassed on my compound," he said stoically. "You're not leaving here unscathed until you give me reason to not have you arrested or better yet, handed over to the crazy family you're trying to run from."

Hinata stared at him in disbelief. She knew the Uchiha had little remorse for anyone but this, this was ridiculous! She tried to break the door open but it wouldn't budge. She activated her Byakugan, only to see the room shrouded in some odd chakra. Genjutsu, she realized.

"I'm not a patient man," Sasuke said, immune to the girl's distress. "You have five minutes."


End file.
